Refining copper.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HALTER ROCKEY AND HILLIARY ELDRIDGE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNORS TOMETALLURGICAL RESEARCH COMPANY, A. CORPORATION OF ARIZONA.

REFINING COPPER.

No Drawing.

T all whom 2'25 may concern: v

Be it known that we, WALTER S. Rooney and Ilmmanr Enmuoon, citizens ofthe United States, both residing at New York city, in the county of NewYork and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Refining Copper, of which the following is a full,clear, and

' exact specification.

Our invention relates to the art of refining copper, the objectof whichis to decrease the cost of refining copper and to give the'copper ahigher degree of purity than has heretofore been obtained.

' To carry out our process -ofrefining copper, we fuse the copper by theapplication of heat, and in any suitable apparatus, and for the purposeof reducing the oxids presentin the copper, carbon or other reducingmedium may be added to the fusing copper;

and having previously provided a molten bath of anhydrous boron trioxid(B 0 or one containing anhydrous boron' trioxld,

' or any other anhydrous flux which has the property of absorbing andholding insuspension the metallic oxids and other impurities in themetal, we direct the fused copper through said anhydrous flux, that is,pour it from above the flux down into the flux, through the flux, andupward out of the flux, or through suitable means into one side of theflux and out of the other side of the flux, but we prefer to have itflow as first stated, downward into and upward out of Specification ofLetters Patent.

' Patented May 28,1912.

Application filed January 28, 1911. Serial No. 505,282.

may be conveniently prepared in accordance with the specification of ourprior Patent No. 971,563, dated October 4th, 1910.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. The process of refining copper, which consists in .first fusing-thecopper by heat, then directing the fused copper through a bath of fusedanhydrous boron trioxid (B 0 and maintaining the heat of theccpperu-ntil all occluded gases have beenexpelled and the oxids presentdissolved by the boron trioxid.

2. The process of refining copper, which consists in first fusing thecopper, then add reduce a portion of the oxidspresent, then directingthe fused and partially deoxidized copper through a bath of anhydrousboron mg a reducing body'to the fused copper to trioxid (B 0 andmaintaining the heat of the copper until all occluded gases have beenexpelled .and the oxids present dissolved by the boron trioxid.

3. The process of refining copper which consists in first fusing thecopper by heat,

then directing the fused copper through a bath of fused anhydrous borontrioxid and a reducing agent, and maintaining the heat of the copperuntil all occluded gases have been expelled and the oxids present dis-WALTER s. Rocker.- -HILLIARY ELDRIDGE.

Witnesses:

G. F. QUAoKInnUsH, JOSEPH MA'r'rEs.

